8/26/2022
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7/27/2022
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5/27/2022
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5/11/2022
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4/29/2022
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4/13/2022
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3/30/2022
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3/16/2022
Please forward this on to your workers with children and youth. Encourage them to subscribe!
2/28/2022
Please forward this on to your workers with children and youth. Encourage them to subscribe!
2/24/2022
Save the date!! Sunday 13th March 2022 Join us in person for a night of FUN, WORSHIP & CELEBRATION Cafe Agape presents "WORSHIP NIGHT UNDER THE STARS!! All is welcome to come!! We will be having... -LIVE performance youth & young adults ministry groups. -Kids & Family Friendly Zone -Games & Crowd Interactions (safety guidelines still in place COVID protocols) -FREE Food trucks & beverages -LIVE Worship & Word of Encouragement.
2/24/2022
A short meeting to talk about logistics, safety and funding Board of Camping and Retreat Ministries (BCRM) is hosting a short meeting on March 24, 7PM to keep connected with our camp leadership teams. At that meeting we'll check-in on logistics to see if anyone needs anything. We'll address the issues of safety as we emerge from the pandemic. We'll also talk about funding to see if there are any emerging financial needs.
2/23/2022
Board of Camping and Retreat Ministries (BCRM) is putting out an open call for a nurse for the Summer Youth camps at Monte Toyon and Lodestar this summer. The camps happen back to back, July 9-15 at Monte Toyon in the Santa Cruz area, then July 17-23 at Camp Lodestar in Wilseyville! The reality of camping ministry in 2022 is that we need to have trained professionals taking care of our young people. The difficult part is finding a nurse who is able to take this time and feels called to do it....
2/23/2022
Please continue to access the Camping and Retreat website for updates on the pandemic responses. We are continuing to recommend that we march forward with our summer camping events being in person. We will look at May 2022 to assess how viable that continues to be. Above all else, we will look to offer amazing, and safe, camp experiences!
2/23/2022
Youth Ministry is such a unique call and we’re really blessed when young people answer that call. Did you know that our denomination has training resources for people who work with youth? It’s called “Crash Courses in Youth Ministry” and you can learn more about them here. Click Here
2/23/2022
Our Annual Conference Session (ACS) theme this year is Let Love Be, and in our worship together, we will celebrate the many things that love can be. We invite your artistic interpretations of Let Love Be Romans Chapter 12, such as a poem/spoken word, visual art, dance performance, original music, etc. Artists of all ages are encouraged to submit their interpretation by March 30th, and may be featured in ACS worship. Youth and young adults under 25 years of age may win a $50 gift card. ...
2/23/2022
Some exciting news from camping… The UMCRM Association has secured $1M in foundation grant funding for United Methodist camp and retreat ministries across the United States. Individual UMCRM-affiliated sites and ministries are invited to submit proposals for projects to strengthen the long-term impact and sustainability of these ministries. Your Board of Camping and Retreat Ministries is working on four different proposals to submit. The focus of the awards is on sustainability. What can we ...
2/23/2022
Greetings, Pastors! My name is Meghan (Meg) Starick. I’m at senior at McQueen High school in Northwest Reno. I’m a member at Sparks UMC. I’m looking to hold a retreat for young people in the surrounding area: Nevada and regions nearby toward Tahoe, Carson City and north towards Portola and Fallon. I've got some ideas about what the retreat will be about and who exactly we might reach to. But I want to get connected to the youth directors and others who would also be into it. I want this to ...
2/23/2022
Conference Committee on Young People's Ministry (CCYPM) has set a few ministry directions for this year. One of them is in getting the people who work with young people connected. Right now the team is looking for youth workers and youth leaders who might be interested in putting those networks together. They might divide by district or circuit or something else. We’ll let the body of youth ministry decide. Connect with Rev Jacey to be part of it!
2/9/2022
The beginning of every calendar year is accompanied by opportunities to dream and plan for the year ahead. Leaders who embrace their “why” and use their senses to learn about the needs of their communities can look for support from around the connection. Districts, Conferences, Jurisdictions, General Agencies each support ministry and projects that impact young people in different ways. Sometimes, each of those levels of the church have grants or the ability to financially support a project for ...
2/7/2022
Welcome to the first of our YPM Connection! It’s a newsletter we’re looking to release twice a month that is designed to communicate all that’s going on with Young People’s Ministry in the California-Nevada conference. So we’ll be targeting a lot of our content toward those who work with young people. But we expect the young people themselves, as well as their parents, will find the content useful. So, pastors and church administrators, please pass this newsletter on to all these folks! We...
1/10/2022
I'm writing as we experience a surge in Covid with omicron. This variant seems to be much more contagious than the previous, but less severe in symptoms. So we're getting a lot of cases, but those affected aren't as sick as those with the earlier variants and before the vaccine. So, the news could be worse. With this reality we want to be as proactive as we can approaching camps and retreats, especially as summer approaches. First of all, we're recommending that we approach this summer with...
12/17/2021
UMC Discipleship Ministries has released a great set of free e-book resources to help leaders grow in ministry with youth. The units on Discipleship ("How do we know we are impacting lives because of spiritual growth in our ministry?") and the brain science of "Speaking Adolescent" could be useful continuing education for staff and volunteers who serve in camps and retreats. Learn more and download
12/16/2021
By Deborah Farmer Kris Awe might be our most undervalued emotion. Here’s how to help children find it. When my dad shook me awake at 2 a.m., I grumbled my way out to the backyard and onto the quilt he had spread out for me and my four siblings. Moments later, a streak of light sliced the sky. And then another. For hours, until the sun lit the horizon, we watched the cosmic dance of the Perseid meteor shower. My 9-year-old self would have described the night as “awesome.” That’s a ...
5/14/2021
Let's get our camping ministries up and running again and make this summer all about faith, community, and lots of fun. Come enjoy one of our New Camping N.O.W. opportunities this summer! New Camping in New Normal, New Opportunities and New Witness is inviting us all to look at the future of camping. The future of camping is also here in the present and now. We, on the conference camping staff and the Board of Camping and Retreat Ministries, could not do the vision and plan of the future of ...
5/7/2021
Miriam’s call to serve young people within the church began in Mexico. It was Christmas time, and she and her brother were saddened that they could not be with their mother, who was serving as a pastor in the United States. In response to their sadness, Miriam’s mother told them to find a place to share God’s love during Christmas. Miriam and her brother found an orphanage, where they organized a Christmas dinner for the kids. With the help of their local Methodist Church’s youth, they were able...
1/14/2021
Racial Justice and De-Colonizing the Church The Executive Committee on behalf of the full WJIECC designed the first of the series of conversations on dismantling racism. This action is an outcome of the Executive Committee’s conferring with our Leadership Team Chair, Donna Pritchard that the WJIECC is supporting the Western Jurisdiction’s bold ministry in fighting against racism or eradicating racism. The first conversation was held on January 5, 2021 at 6:00-8:00 pm via Zoom. There were 233 ...
7/23/2020
Dear CI Community, On July 26th 4:30 - 5:30 PM, Christmas Institute (CI) will be hosting a Community Panel consisting of CI youth, leaders, and pastors. The Community Panel will be conducted through Zoom. The panel’s goal is to illuminate how various CI leaders are involved in their communities and engaging in social justice movements. Discussion will also explore the intersection between faith and social justice. Our hope is to inspire and empower the greater Christmas Institute community to ...
7/9/2020
Monday, July 13, 2020 @ 6:30-8pm. Please join us for our bi-weekly discussion about life and how we are affected by what is going on in the world. Our hope is to create a safe space for us to vent, decompress, and gain support in open conversation and spiritual growth with one another. This week's topic relates to the theme of our upcoming Christmas Institute Virtual Worship Service: "Finding Peace in An Anxious World" -- a discussion about anxiety in these uncertain times. Google Document...
7/9/2020
We invite you to join us for our second virtual Christmas Institute worship service: Sunday, July 12th from 4PM-5PM via Zoom. The theme for this second virtual worship, "Finding Peace in an Anxious World," is drawn from the 2020 Spiritual Growth Study by staff of the Urban Village Church, uses the book of Proverbs and “The Serenity Prayer'' as a guide to help Christians find their way through anxiety, worry, and fear and move towards God's peace that surpasses all understanding. This book is one...
4/30/2020
By Fel Cao, California-Nevada Conference Director of Camping and Retreat Ministries and Young People’s Ministry The crisis of the pandemic we're all facing is calling us to be creative in staying connected and staying healthy. While we are very mindful of the people on the front lines that are serving us and risking their lives more so that we remain safe and alive, we try to provide creative ways to resource members and constituents of our faith communities. Did you know that United ...
1/13/2020
by Felicisimo Cao | Camping and Retreat Ministries and Young People's Ministry "We'll All Be Free," was the theme of the Christmas Institute 2019 held on December 26-30, 2019 at Old Oak Ranch Conference Center in Sonora, California. In attendance was 115 youth, young adults and adult volunteers. The theme was designed to help increase awareness among our young people the call to the ministry of social justice and lead them to live lives as young disciples of Jesus intentional in the advocacy of ...
9/13/2019
9/12/2019 By JB Brayfindley Communications Assistant The National Japanese American United Methodist Caucus (NJAUMC) Asian American Summer Camp (AC), in its 45th year history of empowering and inspirational ministry, has developed a reputation amongst its participants as a family-like community, yielding lifelong relationships and faithful servants of God. Begun in 1974 under the direction of the Reverends Peter Chen and Harry Marakami, Asian Camp has a tradition of creating programs that ...
9/6/2019
By JB Brayfindley Communications Assistant Enthusiasm was high at Shasta Family Camp, held July 20-26 in Mt. Shasta, according to Trust Hilton, camp director for the last five years – this despite the fact that total attendance, at 30+, was lower than in previous years. “The flow of the program was great – from serious worship moments to being complete goofballs during campfire time!” says Hilton, who grew up attending the camp from the age of 12. There were new songbooks this year, so ...
9/5/2019
Camping engages people from older generations to younger generations. We have members of our connectional family who are investing their lives in camping. Through camping, they have recognized people’s gifts and graces – and their investment of time, energy, and money cannot be underestimated. This year, I was able to go to Shasta Camp for the first time. It is a very good location, designed for tent and RV camping, and has great hiking trails. I will come back next year for sure and will ...
8/30/2019
By Fel Cao Director of Camping and Retreat Ministries and Young People’s Ministry I have said several times, “I am a product of camping.” I had my faith conversion experience through youth camping. Camping and retreat led me to become an agent and advocate of justice and peace. I believe Jesus lived a life of camping as he moved from one town to another with his followers! It is really interesting how Jesus encamped with the disciples and engaged them in prayer – and how, as much as Peter ...
8/30/2019
By JB Brayfindley Communications Assistant Vertical Play Pen, Leap-of-Faith, and Double-Trouble – all part of the high rope course at Camp Lodestar – were the most popular and challenging activities of the summer for campers. This year 40 campers, grades three through nine, attended the July 14-20 camp. There were also 10 campers in 10th and 11th grades who were Leaders in Training (LIT) and were paired with a counselor to act as a leader and mini counselor for their assigned cabins. (Last ...
8/30/2019
By Tina Heck Director of Reservations and Communications United Camps, Conferences & Retreats (UCCR) Enjoy fall and winter seasons at your United Methodist camping and retreat centers! While Monte Toyon is fairly well booked, there are still some weekend dates available – and Camp Lodestar has plenty of weekends in October and November available for your youth group, Scouts, or crafting, music, quilting, or choir retreat. Or perhaps a family reunion in the beautiful Sierra foothills this ...
2/27/2019
“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can." - John Wesley
